Riding the Line (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation)

by Winter Travers

  They stared at me like I was crazy.

  Cyn tipped her head to the side. “Does she really think I was just gonna press play on some porn while we drank coffee and ate French toast?”

  Meg grabbed a piece of French toast and shoved half of it in her mouth. “Sure looks that way.”

  Cyn held her fist out to Meg. They bumped fists, and both smiled wide. “Our reputation proceeds us,” Cyn laughed.

  “We got you, girl.”

  Wait. They weren’t about to watch porn in the middle of the kitchen? “So, you’re not looking up porn right now.”

  Cyn flipped her phone toward me. “I am, but it’s not like I’m going to hit play or anything. I do have a little bit of couth.”

  “Couth?” Meg laughed. “What the hell is that? Sounds like a disease.”

  Cyn pursed her lips. “I think it’s couth. Means I have some class.”

  Meg nodded to her phone. “Get me the name of those classy porns, and then you better look up the definition of couth. If it even is a word because I feel you made it up.”

  King and Rigid walked into the kitchen, fully dressed for the day.

  “What are you two up to?” Rigid asked.

  Cyn and Meg exchanged a look.

  “Just talking about candles,” Meg purred. “Cyn was looking up the name of a candle she really liked.”

  “Just take some of Meg’s. She’s got a whole fucking closet full at home,” King grunted.

  “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed again?” Meg snapped. “We’re going home tonight so you can sleep in your own bed.”

  King grabbed her mug of coffee. “We’re staying here.”

  Meg pursed her lips but didn’t protest. “Well, then I’m ordering a memory foam thing-a-ma-bob to go over the mattress in our room here. Ya just lay it right on top and it’s like a new mattress. The support sucks on it right now. It feels like I’m lying on a piece of plywood.”

  King shrugged. “Whatever you want.” He walked out of the kitchen with Meg’s coffee and a slight smile on his lips.

  “What the hell?” Meg yelled. “That’s the second cup of coffee I’ve poured, and I haven’t drank a drop!”

  Rigid reached up into the cabinet and handed Meg a cup. “Try again. See what happens.”

  Meg shoved the cup at Rigid and grabbed another one from the cabinet. “Not until you fill your own. Once you get yours, I can get mine,” she insisted.

  Rigid shrugged and filled his mug to the brim, taking the last drop of brewed coffee.

  Meg growled and grabbed the bag of coffee grounds.

  “Hey, I gave you the chance to get the last cup.” He raised the cup to his lips and sighed. “Good ‘til the last drop.”

  Meg pushed him out of the way and started the next pot brewing.

  When the pot was ready, she grabbed a straw from the drawer and smiled at Rigid. “Watch this.” She stuck her straw into the full coffee pot and walked out of the kitchen with a little hitch in her step.

  “Did she just take the whole coffee pot as her sipee cup?” Rigid laughed.

  “Sure as shit did,” Meg called. “Also, can you be a dear and bring me a plate of food, Rigid?”

  “Are we really going to let her think this is normal?” Rigid asked Cyn.

  Cyn shrugged. “I mean, at this point, isn’t it? After how many years of someone being amazing like that, does it become normal? I think I would be shocked if she hadn’t made the coffee pot into a giant juice box.”

  I grabbed the mountain of bacon and sausage I had fried up and set it next to the French toast.

  Cyn had a point. I was new to being around Meg, but even I had the feeling that what had just happened was normal.

  Frost stumbled into the kitchen and ran his fingers through his hair. “Coffee?” Frost grunted.

  Cyn snorted. “You might want to check with your auntie about that.”

  “I think the coffee is gone for the day.” Rigid held up his cup. “Should have gotten out here a lot sooner now that Meg is back.”

  “She drank all of the coffee?” Frost curled his lip and shook his head. “But why?”

  I grabbed the cup I had managed to pour before Meg rolled through. “I’m willing to share mine for a price.”

  Cyn pointed at me. “There ya go. Your woman is more than willing to give you some of hers.”

  Frost grabbed my cup and pressed it to his lips. “Is there a story I missed while I slept?”

  I nodded and grabbed a stack of plates from the cabinet. “Yes. Though it happened so fast, I’m still processing it.” Candles, lady porn, and coffee pot sipee cup all happened in a matter of minutes.

  Frost grabbed a plate. “Well, then, I better grab a plate before hurricane Meg comes through again.” He slapped four pieces of French toast on his plate, and I tossed five links of sausage and a couple of slices of bacon on top.

  He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Mornin’, darlin’.”

  His whiskers brushed against my cheek, and I regretted waking up so early to come make breakfast. Tomorrow, I was going to stay in bed a little bit longer to see what those whiskers felt like on the inside of my thighs.

  “Hey, handsome,” I whispered. I could do this every morning. The first days in the clubhouse had been a little rocky since everyone was adjusting to the club girls being here, but now things were starting to feel better.

  The whole club was back together.

  The club girls were rallying around each other after Pam’s death.

  And the best thing was Royal would be here today.

  I only had to wait a little bit longer before she was home.

  “What’s that little smile for?” Frost asked.

  I shrugged. “I guess I just see a possible light at the end of the tunnel.” It was way far off in the distance, but there was a sliver of light shining with Royal being safe after today. “Go eat. You’re holding up the line.” I nodded to the crowd that was milling around in the common area. It was only a matter of time before they moved into the kitchen and devoured breakfast.

  “You and your girl need to stop getting mushy in front of the food,” Rigid complained.

  “Rigid,” Meg called. “I’m feeling famished.”

  Cyn snorted. “I don’t know how it happened, but you better get Meg her food, baby. You’ve become her cabana boy for the day.”

  “How?” Rigid shouted. “How in the hell did I get put into this situation? I tried to help her to get a cup of coffee. I wasn’t the one who stole it out of her hands, was I, Cyn?”

  Cyn shrugged and sipped her coffee. “I can’t remember it well.”

  Rigid shook his head and grabbed a plate. “Well, I bet you’ll remember just fine when I’m paddling your butt later.”

  Cyn shooed her hand toward Rigid. “You’re all talk. I’d like to see you try.”

  “Please bring me my food before you paddle her dump truck ass,” Meg called.

  Cyn closed her eyes. “God give me the strength to not kick my best friend’s ass today.”

  “She says the same prayer every day,” Rigid muttered. He grabbed three pieces of French toast and a couple of slices of bacon. “You want butter on this?” he hollered to Meg.

  “Yes, but bring it to me. I need to spread it evenly. Not just plop it on like a barbarian.” Meg cleared her throat. “No offense.”

  Rigid took a deep breath. “Got it.” He grabbed a knife and fork and tucked the whole tub of butter under his arm.

  “You better be bringing that back for me,” Cyn advised.

  Rigid ignored Cyn and headed over to where Meg was sitting. He set everything down in front of her and stalked back into the kitchen.

  “Yes?” Cyn asked when he stood in front of her.

  “That paddling I mentioned?” he asked her.

  Cyn sputtered. “What?”

  He snatched her coffee from her hand, set it on the counter, and grabbed her hand. “That shit is happening now.” He pulled her to him an
d planted his shoulder in her stomach. Cyn screamed when he hoisted her up and stalked down the hallway.

  “Rigid! You better not think about touching my butt,” she squawked. “It’s too early for this nonsense,” she screamed.

  “Never too early,” he grunted.

  Frost grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the couch in front of the TV. Everyone was busy grabbing food or still asleep.

  I plopped down on the couch, and Frost tucked into his food while I cuddled into him.

  “You think we’ll be like that one day?” Sure, Rigid said he was going to paddle Cyn’s butt, but they sure seemed like they were in love. Everyone here seemed like that.

  Frost pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “If we’re lucky, darlin’.”

  Maybe the life of an MC wasn’t conventional, but I had to admit, it had its appeal. Surrounded by your friends and family all of the time, and you knew there was always someone around who had your back.

  It seemed pretty amazing from where I was sitting.

  I rested my head on Frost’s shoulder and sighed.

  “You okay, darlin’?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I think I actually am.”

  “Sure you don’t need me to hoist you over my shoulder and paddle your ass?” he chuckled.

  “Maybe someday.”

  Frost shook his head. “More like someday is when I finish this plate and haul your ass back to the bedroom.”

  “Wait, wait,” I laughed. “I thought you were talking figuratively, not literally.”

  “Guess you’re gonna have to wait and see.”

  Half an hour later, after Frost finished his breakfast and chased me down the hallway, I found out whether he was actually going to paddle my butt.

  Two hours after that, I walked out of the bedroom a whole hell of a lot happier, and with my butt a pretty shade of pink.

  *

  Chapter Sixteen

  Frost

  “It’s almost nine o’clock,” Indiana complained.

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  She swatted me on the shoulder. “In three hours, it’s not going to be today anymore, and Royal won’t be here.”

  “You gotta have patience, darlin’. Marco didn’t give us an exact time of when he would be here,” I reasoned.

  “Well, why not?” she whined. “Even mob bosses should have consideration for people's times.”

  “She’ll be here soon, sweetie.” Mom reached over and patted Indiana’s hand. “Just try not to think about it.”

  Mom had taken to Indiana pretty fast. Not that I really expected anything different, but it was nice to not have to worry about the two of them meeting anymore.

  Dad dealt out the cards and placed the remaining ones in the middle of the table.

  After breakfast, a little workout in the bedroom, and then just hanging around the clubhouse all day, Indiana was at the end of her rope waiting for Royal to walk through the door.

  King had only gotten one update from Marco, and that was when he was on the plane to pick up Royal. Nothing since then.

  “You remember when Marley was kidnapped?” Meg reminisced.

  “Ah, the good ol’ days,” Rigid laughed from behind the bar. “When you got kidnapped, you knew the reason and didn’t have to guess why.”

  Cyn picked up her cards and laughed. “And then after Marley was rescued, somehow Marley got trapped in the bathroom drunk and trying to sober up with a whole pot of coffee while Troy was in the kitchen demanding to know where she was.”

  “Only you two would get someone drunk that early in the day and think it was hilarious.” Troy stood behind Cyn and looked at her cards.

  “Would you get away from me?” Cyn shooed her hand over her head. “God knows you’re probably giving hand motions to Gambler to help him win.” She held her hands close to her chest and stuck her tongue out at Gambler. “You shouldn’t be allowed to play with us amateurs.”

  “Why not? You guys make poker interesting,” Gambler chuckled. “It’s not every day I get to sit down at the table with someone of your caliber.” Gambler winked and grabbed the cards in front of him.

  “You just winked!’ Cyn shouted. “You can’t wink in poker. That was a total signal to Troy.”

  “I would never cheat,” Troy swore. He wrinkled his nose and held up two fingers.

  Gambler smirked. “All right, how many do you want?” he asked Cyn.

  She placed three of her cards on the table. “Three because you dealt me a shit hand, and I’m planning to wipe the floor with your ass.”

  Gambler slid three cards her way. “How about you, Indy? How many cards do you want?”

  Indiana wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve got good cards, but could they be better?”

  “You’re not supposed to talk out loud, darlin’. Sort of defeats the whole game,” Troy laughed.

  “Or you could just have Troy stand over your shoulder and help Gambler cheat,” Cyn muttered.

  Troy shrugged. “Then you might as well fold right now, Cyn, because you don’t have shit.”

  “Troy!” Cyn screeched. “How is this fair?” She slapped her cards down on the table and folded her arms over her chest. “I demand a redo.”

  “Or how about a refill on your drink, and then I’ll come over there and help you?” Rigid called.

  Cyn huffed but nodded. “Make it a double and quick.”

  Indiana stuck out her tongue and squinted at her cards. “I’ll take one.”

  “Sure you don’t want two?” Troy asked.

  Indiana pressed her cards to her chest. “No, sir. I think I’ll just stick with one.” She laid down one card and grabbed the one Gambler slid to her.

  “Don’t wanna give commentary on your hand now?” Cyn laughed.

  Indiana shook her head. “I think I’ll keep my thoughts to myself, thank you very much.”

  Mom asked for two cards, and Gwen decided to stick with what she had.

  Gwen was the one you had to be careful with. She had been married to Gambler for years and had picked up all of his tricks. Though some of the time, it just seemed like the guy had a horseshoe shoved up his ass.

  I decided to get three new cards and hoped lady luck was on my side.

  Gwen started off the betting with ten tootsie rolls, and quickly, everyone was out except for Indiana and myself.

  “The new love birds against the seasoned pro,” Gambler laughed.

  Gwen chucked a tootsie roll at Gambler. “You’re an ass.”

  “What? I called you a pro,” he insisted.

  “A seasoned one,” Meg tsked. “And we all know you meant old.”

  “Do you think you’re helping me?” Gambler asked her.

  Meg shrugged and unwrapped a tootsie roll. “Chicks before dicks, G. I’m on Gwen’s side.”

  Gambler set down the cards. “Don’t call me G. You know I hate that.”

  Meg shrugged. “Maybe you never should have told me you hated it, and we wouldn’t be here right now.”

  “Here where?’ Gambler laughed. “I told you I didn’t like something, and now you do it all the time?”

  Meg tapped her nose. “Exactly.”

  “Just stop, honey,” Gwen called. “You know you can’t win when it comes to Meg. Her reasoning is, well, crazy.”

  “Thank you,” Meg preened. “I accept that.”

  “Okay, show me what you got before Meg drives me to drink even more than I am,” Gambler grumbled.

  Indiana laid down her cards and had two aces and three queens.

  “God damn,” Troy laughed. “Who shoved a rabbit's foot up to your ass?”

  Indiana smiled wide. “I did pretty good, right?”

  “Wait, wait,” Gwen called. “Frost and I haven’t shown our cards yet.”

  Gambler chuckled. “Baby, one of you two are going to need four of a kind or a straight or royal flush to beat Indy. Those are some pretty steep odds.”

  I showed my cards.

  “Ah, there’s th
e other aces. Too bad a full house always beats a pair. Indy is still winning.” Gambler nodded to Gwen. “Show me what you got.”

  Gwen shrugged and laid her cards down one by one.

  Two, king, king, king, king.

  “Hot damn,” Gambler hooted. “You fucking did it.”

  “Aw, man,” Indiana laughed. “I really thought I had a good chance.”

  Gwen reached and swept all the tootsie rolls in front of her. “It was a good try, sweetie.”

  Rigid walked over with two drinks in his hands and set one in front of Cyn. “Drink this, and let’s kick some poker ass.”

  “You in?” Gambler asked Indiana.

  She shrugged and pushed her cards toward Gambler. “Nothing else to do while I wait for Royal.”

  I laughed and handed Gambler my cards. There were plenty of other things we could be doing, but Indiana was having a good time, and it was distracting her from constantly wondering when Royal was going to get here.

  “Deal us in.”

  *

  Chapter Seventeen

  Indiana

  “How does one get to be in the mob?” I drawled. “Does schooling help your chances?”

  “Mob school?” Fayth laughed. “I’ll have to tell that one to Leo.”

  “No, no.” I finished the last of my drink and set it on the bar. “I meant like being an accountant or something. Does that help make it more likely to happen.” I lifted my leg. “Leg up.”

  Fayth grabbed my glass and slid it over to Meg. “I think she’s cutoff. I can’t even follow her reasoning anymore.”

  Meg grabbed the glass and dropped it in the sink. “That is usually the right time to switch to water.”

  “If you know that, then why don’t you do it?” King called. “You and Ethel got so drunk in Arizona that you were in their front yard hooting like a damn owl ‘til the sun came up.”

  Meg shook her head. “I have no recollection of what you’re speaking of. I think you’re just making things up now, King.”

  “Right,” King drawled.

  After more than ten hands of poker and losing all of my tootsie rolls to Gwen, I was fully drunk and still waiting for Royal to arrive.

  “Do you know it is eleventy twelve?” I blinked rapidly and gulped. “Did you?”